Welcome to my Creative Corner. I am currently a designer on three design teams for Elizabeth Craft Designs. I love to spend my spare time designing cards and especially enjoy creating beautiful flowers out of card stock. I love sharing my work and tutorials with you and really appreciate you taking time to visit my blog. Hope I can inspire you to create something beautiful.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

It is time for a new challenge atJoan's Gardens. This week we want you to create a card

Use a leafy design for the background (die cut, stamped or embossed)

Add purple flowers

Use green, purple and white for colors

Use a sentiment

For my card I use the Spellbinders "5x7 Matting Basics A" dies to create my card. If you are not familiar with these dies, you get 7 dies in this set, plus 7 dies in the Matting Basics B" set to help you create perfectly cut cards or perfect matting pieces for your cards. I used the third largest die from the Matting Basics A set for this card.

To cut a perfect card, fold your card stock in half and place the folded edge just inside the cutting line of the die. Tape it down so it doesn't slip when going through the machine. When cutting your card with these dies, you get a pretty embossed line around the edge, which makes your card look very professional.

Here you can see the card once it is die cut.

For the delicate "cover" over my card, I used the Heartfelt Creations "Vintage Floret Frame PreCut Set" to stamp the design on a piece of green card stock. I die cut it with the matching "Decorative Leafy Frame Die". In order to get the stamped design folded just perfect to place in the die so I could have the lacy design on the front and back of the card, I used a ruler and the ScorPal to make a score line down the side. With the ruler lined up on the ScorPal I could wiggle the card just right so my score line would go right next to the stamped edge.

In case you are not familiar with how to use this Heartfelt Creations stamp and die, here is a picture of how you do it. First you tape the die to a piece of card stock and cut out the design. With this one you end up with a frame to place over the stamped frame; it also cuts out around the leafy design. With the die still attached, you place that frame over the stamped image, lining up the stamped edge with the die cut frame. I have a piece of wax paper in my die that stayed there from the last die cut. If you use wax paper between the die and card stock, it comes right out. Tape the die cut frame down with removable tape so it doesn't move.

Place the die down over the stamped image. You can feel it when you have it down in the die cut; tape so it doesn't move.

Here are the two pieces I created for my card - the lacy frame (cover) to go over the Spellbinders cut card. I placed a 1/8" strip of ScorTape down the fold of the green frame and attached the white card inside.

The sentiment from the Heartfelt Creations "Classic Message PreCut Set" stamp set was stamped in the center of the circle. The leafy frame has three die cut flowers so I used the Heartfelt Creations "Open Vintage Floret" and "Mini Vintage Floret" stamp sets to stamp the three sizes of flowers, then colored them with markers. There are three layers to each flower. They were shaped with the Sizzix Flower Tool Kit. In the center of each flower I added some Viva Black Paper Pen.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

I have had a lot of requests to do a tutorial on how to create a peony with the new dies from the Sizzix "Susan's Gardens" set. Susan does have instructions in each package, but below is my version of how to create this beautiful flower. First I will tell you about the card before going into the tutorial.

I used the eBosser "Delicate Dots" embossing folder for the background. The corners are the Joy! Crafts 6002/0135 Noor! Design corners. I die cut the Marianne Design Anja doily out of white card stock and die cut the "angle wing" in pink. The center was also die cut out of white card stock. The little butterfly is from the Cheery Lynn Mini Butterflies die set.

Tutorial for creating the Peony with the Sizzix Susan's Garden Peony dies.

I started out by die cutting 8 each of all the flower petals. I would rather have too many petals prepared for a flower than to have to go back and die cut and condition more when I am working on a flower. This particular die is larger than most of the flower dies and you can cut several layers at one time.

This picture shows the process in creating each layer. This is the largest petal being glued to a "green" base. Alternate the petals as you glue them in. The base is green on this layer because it is the bottom of the flower.

This is how your flower will look when you have all six petals of the bottom layer of the peony.

On the layers that I create for the middle of the flower, I like to use the same color "base" as the petals so that it doesn't show. This will be the second row from the bottom.

Here are the bottom layer on the left, and the next layer up on the right. You can see that I glued the petals in closer to the center of the base to create a slightly smaller layer, on the layer on the right.

Here are the bottom three layers completed.

Next you will glue the three layers together, adding glue just in the very center on the bottom of each. Press them down in the shaping mat with the stylus to get them to cup and to help them stick together. The loose petals are the next size up (or smaller) petals. These will be individually glued into the center of the "so far" assembled flower. You don't need to add them all at this point.

To create the very center of the peony, I glued three of these petals together in a fan shape. You can see that in the top of this picture. I created two sets like this. I then added glue to the base of each, and put them in the center of the flower. You want to slightly overlap the ends (side) so you have a bud type center. Now you can go back and start gluing in any of the loose petals where you feel you need a little more fullness.

To complete the flower, you need to shape all the petals once it is dry. This is additional shaping from what you did in the beginning. I shaped my petals to bend down (you can see that in the first pictures, but decided I wanted them all to bend up. Because they were kind of "cupped", when I put my fingers on them, they would bend the other direction and I ended up with the all the petals bending up. They are easier to manipulate when they have been conditioned in the beginning. I used the round nose pliers to shape and bend the petals to look realistic.

The leaves were shaped with the leaf tool and pad in the Flower Tool Kit. I added some shading with a slightly darker green Distress Ink. At the very end, I decided I wanted a variegated peony so I brushed on some White Distress Paint.

This is a very easy flower to create. Once you get all the petals attached, let it thoroughly dry, then be sure to shape the petals to your satisfaction for the realistic look. I know you will have fun with this.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope this information is helpful. I am leaving this morning on a trip, which I will tell you about later, so I will be not able to answer any questions for a few days.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

It is time for the May Heartfelt Creations Alumni Design Team Blog Hop. We have 11 designers participating this month and I hope we give you a lot of inspiration for working with your Heartfelt Creations stamps, dies, and design paper. Be sure to visit each of the blogs, and leave a comment on each, so you will have a chance to win a $25 gift certificate from Heartfelt Creations. Here are the 11 designers participating:

Again this month I wanted to come up with a different type of project. I decided to use the design paper from the Heartfelt Creations "Countryside Evening Collection" and create a paper sculpture. I love how it turned out. I started out by cutting the design paper in fourths and using the corner with the floral design. There are two sheets of each design in this pad, so I cut this design from both sheets. From one of the sheets, I cut out all the little leaves and flowers, and shaped each one, then glued them over the design in the other piece to give the design dimension. Yes, it was a little time consuming, but I think well worth it. Next, I used the bird stamp from the "Melodious Songbird PreCut Set" to add to this sculpted design. I cut away part of the stamped design so it would look good added to the design in the paper. The bird was colored with chalk pencils and the leaves with a Copic marker. I forgot to mention that I stamped the bird on the part of the design paper where I was cutting off the leaves and flowers. It gave the bird great shading; it was attached with dimensional tape.

Here is a closeup so I hope you can see the dimension on the design. In the center of each of the flowers I added a tiny dot of Viva "Sunny Yellow" Paper Pen. For the sentiment I used one of the designs from another page in the "Countryside Evening Collection" pad, and backed it with a piece of black card stock.

I hope you enjoy our blog hop and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win the $25 gift certificate from Heartfelt Creations. The winner will be announced at noon, Saturday, June 1.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

I hope you are all having a nice Memorial Day Weekend. We are having nice weather so are getting some yard work done. I received a new set of JustRite stamps called "Winged Vintage Labels Two & Three" that I used on this card. This is another set with labels, butterflies, and a lot of great sentiments. I white embossed the label with the sentiment, and the butterfly, on black card stock. The design paper is a piece from my stash.

I had a couple of email questions about the Sizzix, Susan's Gardens Poppy I created the other day. If you want to use crepe paper, you need to place the petals on the crepe paper so the lines run up and down in order to get them to shape. I tried it with the lines going side to side, and I had a hard time getting the petals to shape up "fluffy".

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Here is a picture of how you would place the petals on the crepe paper streamer.

I also had a question about the center I created for the poppy. You can purchase the "Lisa Pavelka" Daisy Chain Border Mold fromJoan's Gardens. She also has the "Makin's Clay" which is an air dry clay. I have yellow and black clay. For the pink poppy, I colored the yellow clay with pink Adirondack Acrylic Paint. Since the Daisy Chain is a mold, you can press in clay along the entire border and then just cut off one of the little circles for your poppy center. Today I didn't even let it sit long before pulling the clay out of the mold. It held its shape very well and I even glued it in with Crafter's Pick glue before it was dry.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Did you see the sale atJoan's Gardensthis week. She has a sale on some of the great Sizzix dies and embossing folders I love to use. This is one of the dies on sale that is a lot of fun to create a unique style card people are usually wowed by.

This Sizzix die is called the "Accordion Flip 3-D Album", and the insert on each accordion piece was die cut with the matching Sizzix "Bracket Frame & Label" die. With this Accordion Album die, you can create a card with as many panels as you want - two, three, four, five, etc. I die cut the Accordion Flip section four times and attached them together. On the right accordion piece I die cut a piece of vanilla card stock, embossed it with the Sizzix "Corners & Lattice" embossing folder, then sponged with with Tea Dye Distress Ink.

For the embellishments on this album, I used stamps and dies from the Heartfelt Creations "Sun Kissed" Collection. The flower on the left is was stamped using the stamp from the "Striped Sun Kissed Fleur PreCut Set". This collection comes with two different styles of flowers that can be die cut with the same die.

Here is a picture of the two flower sets and the matching die. The die cut all the flowers out at one time. Fabulous!!!!

The leaf behind the flower is from the Heartfelt Creations "Beautiful You PreCut Set" from a previous release. It was die cut using the matching die. On the second and third accordion piece, I die cut two pieces using the Sizzix "Bracket Frame & Label" die and stamped the Heartfelt "Sun Kissed Fleur Background", colored with Distress Markers, then sponged on Tea Dye Distress Ink. On the third accordion, I die cut a piece of the Heartfelt Creations "Sun Kissed" design paper, then used one of the pretty labels from a different piece of design paper in this pad for the frame for the sentiment. The sentiment is from the Heartfelt Creations "Beautiful You PreCut Set". Another dimensional flower created from the "Striped Sun Kissed Fleur" stamp set was attached to the flower printed on the frame.

It is fun to create unique shaped cards, and I always love using the beautiful stamps with matching dies from Heartfelt Creations.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

It is time
for a new challenge at Joan's Gardens. Have you ever noticed how much a
small additional item can really change the appearance of a card? This
week's challenge is called "Lets Dress it Up". Here is what you need to
do:

Use lots of layers (more than two)

Use blue and white

Take a picture of this card then:

Add some type of embellishment to dress it up

Post a picture of both cards on your blog
Link your card in the challenge at Joan's Gardens

Please go over to Joan's Gardens to read all the details about this challenge and to post your entry.

To create my layered card, I used all the dies in the Spellbinders "Marvelous Squares" die set. As you can see, there are a lot of dies in this pretty set. I die cut all the dies twice - once using white card stock and a second time using blue card stock so I could alternate the colors.

To create my layers, I started out by centering the largest die in the center of the card front, taping it down so it wouldn't move while die cutting. This card is 5.5" square. It was then run through again with the embossing mat. This left an embossed square cut out in the front of the card. A 5.5" piece of white card stock was attached to the inside behind this cutout, then I started layering all the different pieces from this set, attaching each layer with dimensional tape. The white corners, from this set, were arranged around the small white die cut in the very center of the card to make it appear larger. The other set of blue corners were attached to the outer corners of the card. On each side of the center section I stamped the flourish from the JustRite "Grand Sentiments" stamp set. A bow and Kaiser Craft Pearls were added to complete the card.

To dress my card up, I added a flower and leaves. The Rose was created with the My Favorite Things "Royal Rolled Rose". The tall leaves were die cut using the Memory Box "Fresh Foliage" die and the small leaf on the side of the rose is the smallest leaf from the Joy! Crafts die. Adding just a single flower really changed the appearance, I think.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

I really love playing with the new Sizzix, Susan's Garden Flower dies. Today I tried something different with the Poppy dies. I have some of those crepe paper rolls and decided to see what would happen if I die cut the flower petals with it. I doubled up the streamer 6 times and die cut all three flower petals. That gave me 6 petals, for each size, to work with for this flower. I die cut two of the base pieces (out of regular card stock) and glued all 6 of the largest petals to one base, then 6 of the medium size petals to another base piece. I did shape the petals with the largest stylus in the Flower Tool Kit. You need to use just a small dot of the Crafter's Pick glue on the tip of each petal when gluing, because the crepe paper is very thin. Press each petal down into the base, with a small stylus, as you glue them down. When the layers were dry, I added the 6 smallest petals in the center of the base with the middle size petals so I could have a "frilly" poppy. Glue the two layers together to form your flower.

To create the stamen, I used something I have in my "stash". It is a metal border mold by Lisa Pavelka and I pressed in some No Bake Polymer Clay. The clay I had was yellow and I wanted a pink center for this flower so used the Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber in Shell Pink to apply paint to it. I wanted dark purple lines in this center piece so used a purple marker to draw them in the creases in the molded piece. In the Poppy Die package, there are dies for the stamens, but I needed longer stamen pieces so used the ones in the Cheery Lynn BAF #1 die set because they have very thin and longer "legs" that would fit around the polymer clay piece. I die cut them using a very dark purple card stock. I die cut the leaves from the Poppy Die set and used the tools from the Sizzix Flower Tool Kit to shape them. I wanted to have some "rough" texture on the leaves so I put them in the "Sizzix Snow Flurries #2" embossing folder. You could use any embossing folder you like.

The background on this card was embossed with the Sizzix "Brenda Walton Damask" embossing folder. My card is 5.5" x 6" so I had to run the front piece through on the embossing folder twice to get full coverage. On top of that embossing, I placed the embossed Oval, that was fussy cut, from the Sizzix "Loving Thoughts" embossing folder set. The little butterfly is from the Cheery Lynn "Mini Butterfly" die set. Two pearls were put on the frame using the Viva "Ice White" Pearl Pen.

I hope you will experiment with your flower dies and come up with some new pretty varieties of flowers. It is so much fun.

Well we have a big thunder storm outside so I better get off the computer. Hope you like my new creation.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Today I have a card created with the Sizzix Susan's Gardens "Black-Eyed Susan" die.

In this picture, on the left, you can see the Black-Eyed Susan created following the instruction that came with the die, and the one on the right shows my style of Black-Eyed Susan. In this picture I did not color the petals like I did the ones on the card.

I used just one of the largest black-eyed Susan flower die cuts from this set, for my flower. With the die cuts on this die you do not have to glue each petal to form the flower. It was die cut using white card stock and colored with Copic markers. The Susan's Garden "Sun" punch was used to punch about 10 suns, and glued them together to form a cone shape. I alternated a dark yellow and dark brown to get the variegated look.

Here is a closeup

The design paper behind the doily is from the Echo Park Paper Co "Country Drive". The doily is the Cheery Lynn "Canadian Kaleidoscope". In the center of this doily, I added one of the Spellbinders die cuts from the "Floral Doily Motifs" die set. The sentiment is from the JustRite "Grand Sentiments" stamp set. The little border on the bottom of the card is the Cheery Lynn "Anastasia" border. To complete this card I added a silk bow created with the "Bow Easy".

When you work with these dies, keep in mind that you can make a variety of flowers with most of them. I love figuring out lots of ways to get more and more variety of flowers for my paper flower garden! I would love to see some of your creative ways of using the flower dies from "Susan's Garden" dies.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Today I am posting a card created with the Susan's Gardens "Dogwood" dies. These flowers are very quick and easy to create with the instructions in the package or by watching the video by Susan Tierney Cockburn. Susan created a white dogwood and I decided to create pink ones to match the design in the Graphic 45 "Secret Garden" paper. The polka dot design paper is from the Echo Park Paper Co "Bundle of Joy - Dots & Stripes" paper pad.

The corners I used were die cut with Joy Craft (0135) dies. Under the flower arrangement I added the Memory Box "Tessatina Border and the "Loom Circle".

These flowers come with two petals attached per die so you just crisscross two pieces to create the flower. The flowers were shaped with the new Sizzix Flower Tool Kit.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Today I want to continue with my tutorials for creating flowers with the new dies from Sizzix. This is a rose created with the "Susan's Garden" Rose dies. There are instructions in the package of dies. There is never a wrong way to create a flower because they are all beautiful. I love all the different techniques and little things you can do with dies to create slightly different looks. Susan's roses are gorgeous, but I will share my techniques, which are a little different, with you below.

TUTORIAL FOR CREATING A ROSE with Susan's Garden Dies

The dies used for this flower were die cut using the Sizzix, Susan's Garden "Rose" dies (#658411). I start by die cutting a lot of petals. This picture shows the number I started with for this rose. I used 80# vanilla card stock for the rose petals. I wanted a cream colored rose, with some light pink at the base of each petal. I sponged on "Spun Sugar" Distress Ink to do this. Then since most roses have yellow at the very base, I added "Squeezed Lemonade" Distress Ink at the very base. I know this is a little time consuming, but I think it is worth the time to create a very realistic colored rose.

The next important thing is to shape the petals. I use the Sizzix Tool Kit (658437) which includes all the tools and mats you will need for creating your flowers. I used the largest ball stylus to soften the fibers in the card stock and "cup" it to resemble a petal.

Once all the petals are shaped, use the self-closing tweezers to pinch at the stem end to give the petal even more shape. Close the tweezers and pinch the sides of the petal up to the tweezers. It makes the top portion of the petal bend back. I learned these techniques from the "Paper Bouquet" book by Susan Tierney Cockburn.

Once all the petals are shaped, start creating the layers for the rose. I usually create three or four layers to create a "full" bloom rose. Here you can see three layers, the center of the rose, plus some extra petals to tuck in case I decide I want more fullness.

Each layer for my roses, usually has a different number of petals. For the lower layer of petals, condition them on the back so they cup "under". This picture shows the top (third) layer and is conditioned on the top of the petals so so it "cups" up to form around the center of the rose. For this center piece, I added four petals to the base, then went back and glued in four more petals in between the first petals (alternating petals).

Here you can see what it looks like when you alternate the petals. By the way, I should mention that I use "Crafter's Pick" white glue because it is a fast drying glue and works really well for creating your flowers.

I create the center for my rose differently than Susan. I use five of the "center" die cut petals which are shaped very different. I add glue to the inside of one petal and twist it around the tweezers, holding a couple of seconds until it "catches". Keep adding these same style petals, alternating them around so you create a realistic looking center.

Here is a picture of all five center petals glued together to form the center of the rose. You can create your rose buds this same way.

Now all my flower layers are dry and I can start shaping them more. Put them on the shaping mat and press down in the center with the largest stylus so that it starts "cupping". Do this to all layers. You need to do this after the glue has at least almost dried so it will hold its shape.

Do this with the section that is the top "cupped up" layer too. It will help pull those petals together to form around the very center of the rose.

Starting with the bottom layer, glue the layers together alternating the petals. On that top (third) layer, I add a lot of glue around the base so it adheres to the layer below it to help "cup" the petals. Place it in the center of the bottom layers, then use the largest stylus to press down firmly in the very center to help it adhere well. Next you will want to add the very center "bud" that you created. Add plenty of glue to the bottom of the "bud" portion and place it right in the center. You might need to hold it for a few seconds to get it to attach. Watch it as it dries and make sure it is sitting real straight in the center so your rose won't look crooked.

Your rose will probably look something like this. I think it needs some more shaping, don't you! You can glue the tips of some of those left over petals and stick them in around the bottom of the "cupped" area if you want. That is what I did for a little more fullness. Sometimes it is helpful to clip off the very bottom of these petals so they nestle down below that center section.

Here is a tool I discovered some time ago that really helps to shape the edges of the petals. They are round nosed pliers and do not leave a crease like the tweezers when you roll the edges of the petals. You can order this tool from Joan's Gardens. I like to wait until my rose is completely dry before I start shaping it so that the layers don't start twisting. There is a big difference in the rose above and this one, isn't there.

In Susan's Rose dies, there are also leaves and the pieces to create a beautiful rose bud. I have created a rose bud and shaped the green base that will go around it.

This is a picture of the completed bud. You can also create larger buds as shown in Susan's video.

The rose I created today would be beautiful on a box or on a frame. You can also use these dies to create smaller roses by not using that lower (largest) set of petals.

I would love to hear from you to see if you find these tutorials helpful. It does take a lot of time to create them, and I will continue to do more tutorials if I know they are helpful to you. If you do like the tutorials, which flower would you like to have a tutorial on next? Here is the link to my "Lily" tutorial. Anxious to hear your comments.

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SELMA STEVENSON

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I am so happy you stopped by to visit my creative corner. I love to share my creations with you and hope they give you some inspiration. I would love for you to take a moment and leave a comment to let me know what you think. If you enjoy my work, I would also like for you to sign up as a Follower. It is fun to see who my followers are. I always look forward to reading your comments. Thanks for stopping by.